In advance of ComicsPRO 2018, Valiant is proud to present the first in-depth details behind the inaugural year of this spring’s most anticipated ongoing series debut, beginning in the all-new SHADOWMAN (2018) #1 – the FIRST ISSUE of A POWERFUL NEW ONGOING SERIES from superstar writer Andy Diggle (Green Arrow: Year One, Daredevil) and explosive artist Stephen Segovia (Action Comics) – on March 28th!

As detailed today at Paste Magazine, the long-awaited return of Valiant’s supernatural icon that begins this spring with the introductory story arc “FEAR OF THE DARK” will soon spiral into “DEAD AND GONE” – an epic exploration into the true power and impact of the Shadowman legacy across the ages, from World War II all the way back to dawn of mankind, with all-star artists Shawn Martinbrough (Thief of Thieves, Black Panther), Doug Braithwaite (X-O MANOWAR, Journey into Mystery), and Renato Guedes (BLOODSHOT SALVATION), debuting a new Shadowman of times past in each issue!

Then, just in time for Halloween, the battle for the legacy of Master Darque erupts into civil war as the factions of New Orleans’ occult underground vie for control of his earthly remains…and the untapped power they contain…in “RAG AND BONE,” an all-new jumping-on point featuring the return of high-octane artist Stephen Segovia!

Sprinting from “FEAR OF THE DARK” to “DEAD AND GONE” and onto “RAG AND BONE,” Jack Boniface’s return to the frontline of Valiant Universe will follow in the footsteps of X-O MANOWAR and BLOODSHOT REBORN to present the ultimate Shadowman saga ever told:

SHADOWMAN #1-3 | “FEAR OF THE DARK”
Written by Andy Diggle | Art by Stephen Segovia

Don’t fear your demons… Fight them! Orphaned as a child and raised on the margins of society, Jack Boniface never knew his place in the world. Until he discovered it waiting for him…in a darkness far older than the reign of men…

Unbeknownst to him, Jack was fated to become the next in a long lineage of Shadowmen – mortals bound to violent voodoo spirits of immense power – that could safeguard our world against incursions from realms beyond. For years, he struggled to control the loa’s murderous urges – a battle he eventually lost.

But now, after years of self-imposed exile, the man once known as Shadowman is returning home to sharpen the weapon within…and unleash a reckoning on the evils of our world that will soon send shockwaves through heaven and hell alike…

A staggering new beginning for Valiant’s supernatural icon starts here on March 28th with PART ONE of “FEAR OF THE DARK” – a tense and gripping three-issue introduction pushing Jack Boniface to the farthest edge of fear itself…and into a startling, adrenaline-fueled fight for survival as Shadowman takes command of the birthright he was born to uphold!

For years, Jack Boniface believed that he knew the true story of the Shadowman loa – the true story of the curse inside him. He was wrong.

For the first time, Jack Boniface is about to discover the long-hidden history of the supernatural power that became his birthright… Unmoored in time and space, the loa is about to reveal its untold dimensions…and now, the last defender of the wall between our realm and the Deadside is falling backwards through the astral void, finding himself face to face with his forebears across the centuries – from the paranoia-addled alleyways of 1940s New York to the fire-scorched plantations of the Civil War…all the way back to the primeval height of the African savannah in 40,000 B.C.!

In the shock-inducing aftermath of “FEAR OF THE DARK,” master storyteller Andy Diggle leads a rotating cast of superstar artists – including Shawn Martinbrough, Doug Braithwaite, and Renato Guedes – to reveal the full scope and power of the Shadowman mythos…and how three of its forgotten champions stoked its earliest embers…with a legend-fueled odyssey into eons past as “DEAD AND GONE” tells all!

For some men – like the sadistic necromancer Nicodemo Darque, whose eternal conflict with the Boniface family’s lineage of Shadowmen was bound in blood nearly two centuries ago – the true path to power lies beyond death… And even the last relics of their earthly remains can become a doorway themselves…

As Shadowman returns to New Orleans with a revelatory new understanding of the immense abilities within himself, he won’t have long to adjust…because a war for control of the ultimate magical artifact – the bones of Master Darque, his old arch-nemesis – is about to erupt out of the underground and into the harsh view of day!

On one side: The Brethren, a society of wealthy and powerful occultists obsessed with Darque’s resurrection and ushering in a millennia-long reign of darkness. On the other: Shadowman’s old allies from The Abettors…and Darque’s own sister, Sandria, who would like nothing more than to grind her brother’s bones to dust…

The endless cycle of death and rebirth stops here as Shadowman and the Darque clan usher in the reckoning they’ve waited ten lifetimes to achieve – with massive repercussions for the future of the Valiant Universe – as high-octane artist Stephen Segovia returns to heed the call of “RAG AND BONE”!

DEBUTING OCTOBER 2018

—

“The Shadowman legacy began with Marius Boniface being bound to the loa in 1865, and each subsequent generation has carried that power,” writer Andy Diggle told Paste. “I thought it would be fun to see more of those characters and learn from them…and I knew I wanted to show [the previous Shadowman] in action in 1940s Manhattan. And as someone who grew up watching Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns, I really wanted to catch up with Marius Boniface to see how he handled himself in the Old West long after the Civil War had ended. I got to write a supernatural Western!”

“Of course, the shadow loa is an ancient and immortal being, so the big question is – what was it doing before 1865?” Diggle added. “I don’t want to spoil it here, but the answer will have major ramifications for the Shadowman legacy. It gets pretty crazy.”

On March 28th, Shadowman’s inescapable journey out of the Deadside and back to the world of men begin as blockbuster creators Andy Diggle and Stephen Segovia present the first must-read chapter of Valiant’s next essential ongoing series launch in the all-new SHADOWMAN (2018) #1 – featuring covers by astonishing artists Tonci Zonjic (Who is Jake Ellis?), Renato Guedes (BLOODSHOT SALVATION), Juan José Ryp (BRITANNIA), and Travel Foreman (Animal Man, The Ultimates)!